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Alt-pop singer Wendy Bevan has worked with some of the UK’s most illustrious producers, so when it came to releasing her first album in a decade, she needed to find the right collaborator.
In a twist of fate, she was introduced to Duran Duran co-founder and synth pioneer Nick Rhodes, known for the signature synth-pop sound he brought to hit Duran Duran songs like “Rio”, “save a Prayer” and “Ordinary World”, at a party by a mutual friend.
Together, they worked on creating the dark, mysterious world of Alone With the Unknown, a record that explores themes of mythology, love language, lost expression and human connection while nodding to the stylistic spookiness of directors like David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock with sprawling, ominous synths, vocodered vocals and jittery percussion.
“It’s been a great experience working with Nick, and he truly understood the vision that I had with the album,” Bevan told The Independent. “He’s a joy to work with and an excellent collaborator.”
She said they worked hard at creating the evocative atmosphere you hear on her album: “Nick was great at creating that space and allowing the vocals and story to breathe,” she explained.
“I think we worked well together to create that universe within each track, and Nick was definitely excellent at understanding the poetry of combining the two. We’re both very proud of it.”
Addressing the themes on the album, she remarked: “I think we now live in this society where a lot of people don’t even speak to another human being during the day.
“[Platforms like Instagram and TikTok] give this sense of you being really alone. You’re quite isolated. I find when I’m just texting with people the whole time, I feel like I’m banging on the wall of reality. We’re in this constant tug of war with the way we communicate now, whereas sometimes you just simply need human touch, human voice, human presence.”
Bevan hopes that her album “embodies that, in some way”, as she touches on the subject of humanity and connection in her songwriting.
“I want my listener to feel like they have a place to dream,” she said, “and I think the album offers that.”
She was particularly interested in the idea of the femme fatale character on songs such as “Violet”, a tale of doomed love, while “Sirens” has similar echoes of dangerous seduction.
“These are classic storylines that I write while thinking about the character: who would sing this, who would deliver it, how would I sing it on stage?” Bevan said.
“I think there’s so much fun to be had with that world. It’s sexy, it’s seductive, and I think it’s something people are still interested in hearing about.”
She said she regards this album as “a big stepping stone” in her career and hopefully a platform for what comes next: “I have a vision, and this album has put me now in a place where I think that I hope that people will start to recognise that vision and want to be part of it. I feel like I’ve really grown as an artist, and I’m really sure about who I am.”
The most important thing for her, Bevan said, was “longevity and performance… I really would love to be able to be performing this album and touring, and I hope that it’s the next building block to bigger places.”
Alone with the Unknown by Wendy Bevan is out now.
